Speculations
by caskettwriter41319
Summary: Kate is practically suffocating in the LokSat mystery that has become her life. But she can't keep pretending. The clock is ticking, and if she wants to keep her loved ones out of danger, she will need to work fast.
1. Rick

**I'll just assume we're all caught up, here. So this one takes place in present time. Beckett's still s** **urrounded by the LokSat mystery. These are going to be short chapters, but together will narrate how I think this one should've gone. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with what the writers are actually doing with this story line. But if I was the director of the show *sigh* it would be quite different...enjoy!**

 **Disclosure: Seriously...I really don't own the show. If I did, I wouldn't be stuck writing this fanfic.**

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Chapter 1-Rick

"We can't keep doing this." Kate turned, exhausted, and flopped backward onto the couch. She could barely keep her eyes open, yet her exhaustion was also fueling the tension that spread through her body.

Rick followed her into the living room and slid onto the couch next to her, worry filling his expression. Since she had walked through the front door after work, she had looked about ready to pass out, which scared him. He had seen her tired before, but never this tired. Her silence, up until now, had been suffocating. But he knew better than to try to talk to her before she was ready.

"Can't keep doing what?" He asked softly, placing a comforting hand gently on her shoulder, not sure whether that would help or make things worse. She allowed it to rest there.

"Pretending." She huffed, running a shaky hand through her tossed hair and letting out a long sigh, "one minute we're together…the next we hate each other."

"It's not by choice, Kate, and you know that."

"Of course not!" She responded, looking up suddenly into his face. It made his heart wrench, the pain and sadness that filled her eyes, "but I just…we just…can't keep doing this. It's…" She faltered and drew her eyes away.

"We can get through this, love." Rick reached over when tears finally began to make trails down her cheeks and pulled her into him, "you said it yourself. You're so close to Loksat. Then we can go back to our normal lives."

She let him wrap his strong arms protectively around her and buried her face into his shoulder. It felt good to let him hold her. It felt good to cry into him and let him tell her everything would be okay…even if it wouldn't.

"It's not like that" She pressed, her voice hoarse from holding back tears for so long.

"What do you mean?"

"Rick, we will never, ever be able to go back to our normal life. Ever." Her tears began to fall faster and she was shaking with held-back sobs.

"Why not?" He wiped the tears from her cheeks and folded his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze, "hey…we can get through anything. I promise."

"Not this." She replied, "Esposito and Ryan think we hate each other. And they hate you for cheating on me which you didn't even do."

"Kate, they don't define us. And besides, they'll get over it." He watched her, "that's not why you're upset though."

She shook her head slowly and he began to rub his hand gently up and down her arm. Never in his life had he seen her this upset. It made him wonder if there was something seriously wrong with her. If she was sick…he would never sleep again. There was no way in hell he could ever live without her.

"We just can't keep pretending, Rick."

"Please let me help you. Tell me what's wrong."

For a moment, he thought she was going to give in and tell him. Then her phone buzzed, startling them both. She pulled it out and moved away from him, reading the text and sighing.

"I have to go."

"Kate…"

"Please, Rick. Don't do this now." She stood up, walking back to their bedroom and shutting the door behind her. He was left to sit on the couch alone, silent tears beginning to build up behind his own eyes.

She opened the door five minutes later, grabbed her bag and keys from the table by the door, and hurriedly left the loft with a final bang of the heavy wooden door. The loft was quiet. This time, however, the silence was filled with suffocating pain.

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 **Thanks for reading! More chapters to come! Follow and favorite...and if you REALLY want to make my day (I know you do), then leave a comment! Love you guys! Have a great week!**

 **Audrey**


	2. Vikram

**Here is the** **second installment. I can't tell you how much your reviews mean to me! Love you all! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 2- Vikram

"Hey Beckett." Vikram greeted her as she entered his apartment. It was cluttered with paper and empty file folders.

"What do you have?" At the edgy tone in her voice, Vikram turned from his lamp-lit desk and a shadow of worry cast over his face.

"Beckett, are you okay?"

"No. I'm not. Please tell me what you found. I can't keep doing this." She shoved though the dining chairs to where he sat and stood behind him, casting a shadow of anger and tension over the room.

"What happened?"

"Vikram…" She warned.

"Kate…you can't keep holding everything back from everyone. It's unhealthy." He turned in his chair and stood up to face her. His eyes bore into hers, "you're going to hurt yourself."

"Vikram. Don't do this to me right now. I already got it from my husband. Just tell me what you found. "

"Tell me what's going on."

Kate stared him down for a moment, then turned away, giving in, "you want to know what's wrong, Vikram? The fact that I can't even be seen in public close to my husband. The idea that any small, wrong move on my part could get my loved ones killed. The fact that I have to lie to the people I trust, and the man I love about…everything. I can't do it anymore, Vikram." She took a deep, shaky breath, "so if you have something…please tell me. Or we're done here."

"What do you mean?" He prodded.

"Don't go down that path. It's my private life, Vikram, and I would like it to stay that way."

"Kate, I need to know. I can't be responsible for putting you in danger when there's…something else going on."

Kate narrowed her eyes and watched him warily, "what are you referring to?"

"You know what I'm referring to, Kate, you're just choosing to ignore it."

"So suddenly you're responsible for me? Suddenly I'm your property?" Anger fueled her to take a few steps toward him, flames of hatred igniting in her, "you really think that my life is under YOUR control now?! Who do you think I am, Vikram? Because I am not a child under your protection! You are not my personal body guard. This is MY life, not yours. My life. I take care of myself. You don't do it for me. Now I'm going to ask you one more time." She was shaking now with rage as she stared into his eyes, "what. Did. You. Find."

He faltered for a moment, then took a breath, "I know you can take care of yourself. But I can't let you continue to put yourself in danger when it's not just your life anymore."

"How did you find out?" She demanded, "who told you?"

"Nobody told me." He admitted, "I…guessed."

"Don't lie to me."

"I swear, Kate. Nobody told me. The moment you came in last week to talk to me, I knew." Vikram seemed to lose his fire and slowly took a seat again.

Kate collapsed as well, anger replaced with exhaustion once again, "I haven't told him yet."

"Rick?"

Kate nodded slowly and sunk into a chair near Vikram's. He scooted closer to her and put a hand on her knee, "when did you find out?"

"The same day you did. That's…why I was late to our meeting that morning. I was at the doctor."

"When are you planning on telling him?"

"I was about to when I got your message. But I can't pretend for much longer. Soon, this…" she shot a glance down at her abdomen, "is going to be more than a bit obvious."

"Kate, there's only one way into this, but you know we can never guarantee our safety. That wasn't a problem before. We were both willing to risk our own lives. But now…"

"We'll be fine." She assured him, "me, you, and the baby. Just tell me what you have."

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 **Thanks to all of you beautiful human beings! You're amazing! Next chapter coming soon.**


	3. Kate

**Thank you all so, so much for all the wonderful reviews and love! You are amazing! Here is chapter three...hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 3- Kate

Pacing silently on the first landing of the stairwell was not doing Kate any good. She had been there for twenty minutes, just thinking. But her wandering mind refused to focus. It wasn't necessarily that she was afraid of his response; she knew how happy he would be. In fact, when she really thought about it, Kate wasn't even sure why she was nervous at all. It was simply a lingering feeling tugging at her insides every time she pictured admitting her situation to her husband.

Every few moments, she would stop pacing and put a hand over her midsection, as if it was going to become larger with her fear of what was to come. Her emotions swirled. One minute, she would look down and feel a rush of excitement. The next, she would feel as if she was shrinking, overcome with clouds of fear.

Her pacing became faster and more frantic as she realized what time it was. She had twenty minutes until Rick was supposed to meet her for dinner downtown. She had set up the meeting with the purpose of telling him, but soon realized how much harder it would be when they were surrounded by other couples, eating and drinking as if they had the world at their fingertips.

"Kate?"

She whirled around, startled at the sound of her name. For a moment, she felt like she was in a dream, floating through the stairwell, with it's white-washed walls and silver banisters. And he wavered in her vision for a moment. Her mind registered what was going on moments later, and she let go of the breath she'd been holding.

"Rick…what are you doing here?" She stammered, suddenly overcome with the thought that her time alone to contemplate the situation was over.

"I….live here." He responded, worry crossing over his face, "what are you doing here? I thought we were meeting for dinner?"

"Yeah…uh…we are. I just thought I would…come see you first." She said.

He watched her for a moment, skin pale and hands shaking slightly. He could tell she had been here a while. Before he had announced her name, she'd been pacing, running her hands desperately though her hair, as she often did when she was thinking, nervous, irritated, or all three.

"Why don't we go up to the apartment." He suggested, approaching her to take the bag she'd been carrying.

"Okay."

Together, they made their way up the stairs, stopping at each landing very briefly for Kate to catch her breath. Each time, she apologized, telling him she hadn't had enough exercise in the past few weeks.

When they reached the loft, Rick pulled the door open for Kate, who entered their home slowly and made her way to the couch, where she collapsed with a loud sigh. He followed her, setting her bag where she usually kept it by the door and sat next to her. To both, it felt like a repeat of the other night, when he prodded, she shut him out, and then she left. Rick stayed wary, keeping a few inches between himself and his wife. She seemed as if she was only half there.

"Kate, I know you're going through a lot right now." He started softly, "but please, talk to me. Tell me what's going on. I can't stand watching you in pain like this."

She looked up at him, trying to hold back tears, and decided it was pointless.

"Hold me?" She asked, voice breaking like that of a desperate, lonely child.

He didn't need her to ask twice. He scooted toward her and pulled her weak body into his lap, enveloping her in his strength. He felt her body immediately relax in his arms, and he let her sink into him.

"Talk to me when you're ready, okay?" He asked softly into her shoulder.

She nodded and lay in his arms for several minutes of silence before taking a breath, "I'm so stupid."

He was startled by her sudden self-accusation, "Kate…" he began to rub his hand up and down her arm, "never, ever say that."

"It's true," she pressed, "how do you even deserve me?"

"Wha…Kate how do you deserve me? How do I deserve you?! I…"

She stopped him mid-sentence, "I'm sorry, Rick. I've lied to you, kept things from you, mistrusted you. All you've done is hang around, watching my back. I'm so, so sorry."

He was silent, which sent fear through her. Either he was waiting for her to continue, or he was angry.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." He finally said.

"No Rick, there's everything to be sorry about. I've treated you like…like trash these last few weeks. But I love you. I love you so much. You know that, right?"

"Of course…I…"

"I need to tell you something. But I'm scared. I'm terrified, actually. And I don't know why I'm so terrified. But I am. So please, let me get this all out before you say anything."

When she was met with silence, she continued, "I've been on the hunt for these people for so long…but something made me really think about the choices I've made. And I've been so stupid. So ridiculously stupid." Her voice faded for a moment.

"Kate…"

"I'm pregnant."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her whole body seemed to collapse, as if something that had been held back inside her for so long had finally been set free. It hung in the air for several moments before he broke the silence.

"You're….are you sure?" He asked.

"I'm positive."

Silence took over again, but this time it didn't scare her. Instead of reacting, her let her emotions become his own, lending her the response she needed most. He didn't pick her up and spin her around, he didn't get upset, he just let her fill him with all of her worries and all of her pain. And suddenly, Kate felt like everything was going to be alright. Not because her situation was any different, but just because she knew he would stand by her every step of the way.

"Rick?"

"Yeah?" He responded softly, placing a kiss on her head.

"Thank you."

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 **Thanks for reading! As always, your reviews are my brain food! :D Not sure yet where I'm going with this story from here, so if you've got a burning idea that you're dying to see in this story (or any of my stories...or a NEW story!) ...drop it in the comments and i'll consider it! Love you all.**


	4. Anonymous

**Sorry there's been a time gap since the last time I published. But here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Note: I updated this chapter, as there was some confusion. A few people thought the person Kate talked to on the phone was the baby's father. I worded that in the wrong way...the person is RICK'S father...not the baby's. Sorry! Here's the updated chapter. Hope this helps.**

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Chapter 3:

Kate's buzzing phone jolted her out of a deep sleep. For a moment, her head spun and she couldn't remember where she was. But reality caught up seconds later and, with a groan, she turned in bed to hit the phone and silence the sound. Dragging her body slightly out from under the covers, she glanced over to make sure Rick was still asleep. He was, face buried in his pillow and arms sprawled out on either side of his body. As quietly as she could, Kate swung her legs out from under the warm sheets and let out a soft hiss when they hit the cold wood floor.

Her phone buzzed again, but this time she snatched it off the bedside table and recoiled when the white light hit her eyes. The screen read "one missed call" and "three new messages". Kate slipped her feet into Rick's slippers that he kept by the bathroom door and silently left the bedroom to sit on the couch. The missed call was from a restricted number. The messages were from Vikram. She opened up the first message and squinted in the light as she read. Vikram seemed anxious, asking her to call him when she got the chance. With a glance at the bedroom door, Kate left the apartment to stand in the hall. She didn't want to wake her sleeping husband.

The phone rang twice before Vikram picked up.

"Hey. Glad you called."

"What's going on?" She asked, trying to decide whether she was worried or annoyed with him for texting her at five in the morning on a Sunday.

"You got a call from a restricted number this morning. Am I right?"

Her annoyance deflated and she was left with worry, unconsciously shooting a paranoid glance down the dark hall to her left, "yes I did. Why?"

"It's somebody you're going to want to talk to. They will call you back later. Make sure you're there to take it." He paused, "and make sure you're alone when you do."

"Vikram…I can't keep lying to Rick about this."

"I know. But just this once you need to. Believe me, this is a call you're going to want to take. Kate, if you want this whole thing to be over, this is your chance."

There was a long silence between them in which Kate felt she could hear every creaky floorboard and open window in the building. She shivered.

"I have to go now." He said finally, "take the call."

The phone beeped and the call was over. Kate was left alone in the eerily silent hallway. After a moment, she turned and slipped back inside the equally quiet loft. But now, she was much more awake then she had been before.

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Rick opened his eyes to light streaming in through the curtains and spilling across the bed. Sitting up slightly, he noticed right away that Kate was gone. With a groan, he forced himself out of the bed. It was a Sunday and the clock on the bedside table read 8:00. There was no good reason for her to be up this early. But then again, she always seemed to be these days, and it killed him to never wake up with her beside him anymore.

"Hey there sleepyhead."

He turned on his heels, startled by the sound. But he was quickly settled when he saw her sleep-tossed figure leaning against the door frame.

"Morning beautiful." He responded, catching her raised eyebrows at the use of the adjective, "why are you up so early?"

"Early, babe? It's 8:00."

"On a Sunday." He added, making his way toward her.

She was so amazingly gorgeous standing in their bedroom doorway with her tousled brown curls and sleepy eyes. The fact that she was carrying their child added to her beauty. Although it wasn't showing at all on her abdomen yet, it did on her face. He had heard that pregnant women glowed, but not until now had he truly noticed it.

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." She responded.

"Well I miss waking up next to you." He said sheepishly, expecting the playful eye roll he got in return.

"Come on cheese man, let's have breakfast."

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By midday, Rick had left for an obligatory book signing he had complained about for hours and Kate was alone in the loft. Without thinking about it, she had begun to pace around the living room the moment he had left, anticipating the call she knew would come. She hated herself for doing this. She was beyond sick of lying and keeping things from her husband. She was exhausted. And she wanted her life back. The life with Rick in the loft. The life where she was precinct captain and her only worries lied in unsolved cases. The life where she was the mother of their child and they could live without fear of the unknown.

But she also knew that wasn't an option. And, despite everything else, she knew the only way to truly keep her husband safe was to hold back the truth. And it killed her.

Her ringing phone startled her out of her thoughts. For a moment, she hesitated in grabbing it off the counter, afraid of what would appear on the screen. And when she did, she knew she had been right.

"Beckett." She answered, trying to hold her voice steady.

"Kate." A deep voice, obviously digitally altered, spoke.

"Who are you?" She asked firmly, forcing her nerves down.

"Some things must be kept a secret."

"Then how am I expected to trust you?" She asked with a quick, nervous glance at the curtained windows.

"I'm not sure I can give you that assurance without putting you in danger."

Kate bit her lip and quickly made her way back to the bedroom, where she shut the door and took a seat on the bed. Somehow, being there made her feel safer.

"I'm already in danger."

"That's why I'm calling." He responded, "to keep you safe, Kate."

There was a long silence in which she contemplated her situation. Vikram trusted this man, so why shouldn't she? Maybe he knew something about him that she didn't know. But then, why was he so keen on holding back his identity?

"Give me one good reason to trust you with my life." She demanded.

"I have been watching you for two weeks now. If I wanted you dead, you would already be that way." He replied, sending chills down her spine.

"So what do you need from me?" She asked.

"Vikram informed me that there's something I need to know about you. A sort of…recent development."

"And if there is…why do you need to know?"

"He hinted that it could be a potential threat to our situation. I need to know everything, Kate, if you want to stay alive."

"I'm pregnant." She stated without emotion. Somehow, whoever this was made her trust him. She knew, from basic detective training, that she shouldn't. But her instincts told her he was there to help her.

"I thought so." He replied.

"How did you know?" She asked, skeptical. She knew he had been watching from afar, but it suddenly stuck her that both men she worked with seemed to have seen it even before she had.

"It was obvious in the way your mood changed. And you didn't drink coffee starting Wednesday morning. You always drink coffee in the mornings." It was slightly eerie to Kate just how much this guy noticed about her. Sure, she had stopped drinking coffee when she'd found out. But it wasn't like she ever made a big deal of drinking her coffee in the mornings.

"I could see a change in Rick, too." He added a silent moment later, "mostly in the way he treated you. Suddenly with so much more care. It was like his protective father came out when you told him."

"You know about my husband?" She asked, throat growing dry. At least until now she had thought that trusting this man was only tracking her work life. Now she knew that wasn't true.

"Like I said, Kate, I need to know as much as I can in order to keep you safe. But I can tell you are still holding back information from me because you're not sure you should trust me. I can protect you better if you trust me."

"I find it difficult to trust a person who is so intently keeping their identity a secret."

He paused for a long moment, and Kate almost feared he had hung up. But his voice came back a moment later.

"You already know who I am, Kate. If you think hard enough, I trust it will come to you."

Kate was silent for a moment, trying to riddle out what he had said. And it came to her moments later. There was only one person in her life who kept to the shadows and would go to lengths to keep her family safe. One person. And suddenly everything made sense.

"You're his father…" she said into the phone, immediately regretting it. She knew the trouble he had gone to in order to keep his identity hidden. But she had never specified whose father he was.

"Good, Kate." He said, seeming not to have picked up her accidental slip-up, "we need to hang up now. This conversation has gone on for too long to be safe anymore. Just remember that I'm always behind you, waiting in the shadows. I won't let you down. I'll keep your family safe. But just know, it isn't safe to tell Rick. Not yet, anyway. He needs to stay as far from this as possible."

"I won't tell him." She assured him, "our secret's safe."

She heard the soft click of the phone on the other line and took the phone from her ear, pressing end.

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 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And just know...I am strongly against Kate and Rick EVER breaking up (they're my OTP) so don't fear! I am a writer of happy endings! Love you guys!**


	5. Caskett

**Here's the next chapter! I understand that the last chapter I posted raised some negative questions and speculations from you guys, but keep reading. Not everything is as it seems at first glance. Enjoy!**

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Rick opened the door, so ready to see his wife after all day meetings and book signings. But when he entered the room, it was silent and dark. Uneasily, he set his bag and jacket by the door and did a quick walk through of the kitchen and living room. He was about to call her name when a voice drifted out from their closed bedroom door. He walked closer and realized that it was her's. Deciding not to bother her while she was on the phone, he began to walk away, but was caught off guard by her words moments later.

"You're his father."

Rick stopped and crept back toward the door, putting his head near it so he could hear better. Anger pulsed briefly through him as he contemplated every possible scenario that could have made her say that. And his mind always came back to one.

"I won't tell him." She added, "our secret's safe."

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Kate sat on the bed in stunned silence for several seconds. The conversation felt like a dream. It seemed, no matter how much distance she tried to put between her family and LokSat, that the people she loved were always in danger. And it seemed as well that it was always because of her. How had Rick's dad found out about LokSat? How had he become involved? And how was she supposed to keep it from Rick when she had already promised not to lie to him anymore?

With a deep breath in which she attempted to gather all of her thoughts into one collective feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, Kate stood from the bed and slipped out of the room. Bright light caught her off guard as she walked into the living room and the first thing her eyes met were her husband's. They stared for a moment, eyes wide as if each knew something that the other didn't.

"Rick…" she gasped quietly, the fear that he had overheard the conversation paralyzing her where she stood. He was silent, watching the horror grow on her already pale face, "I…didn't hear you come in."

"I was early. I heard you talking and I didn't want to interrupt." His voice almost sounded bitter, and she knew from his hard expression that he had heard her side of the conversation.

"We need to talk."

"Do we?" He asked, suddenly gaining an edge to his voice that hadn't been present before, "because I'm pretty damn sure that I heard everything I needed to already."

She stared at him, watching the hatred and sadness fill his expression. She had seen him upset, enraged, depressed, but never like this. She had never witnessed on his face the pain that was there now. And she wanted to scream, to throw her arms around him, to sob until there was nothing left to let go. She wanted to break down and tell him everything. And she wanted him to hold her and understand. She wanted to wipe away all of his pain like he had for her so many times. But she could see in his eyes that there wouldn't be an easy way to do that.

"Please let me explain." She pleaded.

"Explain what, Kate?" He demanded, "explain how you ended up carrying another man's baby? Explain how you betrayed our marriage? Explain how you could so easily break something incredible that we spent so many years building together? What do you need to explain? Because if it's another excuse or…or another desperate apology you've worked up to find your way around telling me the truth…then I don't want to hear it."

Kate was shocked into silence. She stood with her hands still at her sides and her brain frozen. She felt completely numb, absorbing the shock of the sharp words that had spilled from his mouth and attempting to make sense of them in her mind. Whatever he thought she was keeping from him was not at all what she had been expecting. In fact, it was about a hundred times worse than that.

"You…" she stammered, "you think I…what on earth makes you think I'm carrying another man's child?"

"What makes me think that? What makes YOU think I didn't overhear what you were saying in there?" He snapped, "what makes you think I'm so ignorant that I wouldn't understand who you were talking to?!"

"Ignorant?! Damn right you're ignorant!" She shouted back, feeling anger boiling in her chest, "I can't believe that you have so little faith in me that you think I would do something like that! I can't believe that after everything we've been through you think I could betray you! I don't know how you took that conversation to mean that the child I'm carrying isn't yours, but I find it disgusting that you would jump to that kind of conclusion without even talking to me."

"Oh so now I'm supposed to talk to you when I overhear you talking to the man you cheated on me with?! What was I supposed to say, huh? 'Oh hey Kate, heard you telling some other guy that the baby I thought was mine was actually his! Didn't know you were into sleeping with other men!' Yeah that sounds like a fantastic conversation!"

"Rick…"

"Look I just need the truth from you, okay? Whose baby is it, huh? Or, you know what…" he took a breath, "I don't even care about that. It's your personal life. I just need you to look me in the eyes and tell me why, Kate. What did I do wrong? I thought I'd finally made the right decision with you. I thought I had finally…"

"No Rick. You're asking what you did wrong? What did I do wrong that could possibly make you think I had betrayed you like that?" She demanded, "and you know what? You should know that the last time I slept with anyone who wasn't you was at my eleventh grade prom when I was forced into it by a senior boy I didn't even like!"

Now it was his turn to be silent. Their eyes met once again and it was as if everything around them no longer existed. All they saw was each other's pain.

"This baby is yours, Rick. And I know it's hard for you to believe anything I'm saying right now, but I need you to believe that the child I'm carrying would never belong to anyone but you. Because I love you…" Her voice choked suddenly and he could see the tears building in her eyes, "I love you, Rick. And I need you to listen to me."

He watched her and she saw the anger begin to dissipate from his face, "tell me what the conversation was about."

She sighed with relief and took his hand gently in hers, leading him into the living room. They sat down opposite each other and he placed his clasped hands on his knees.

"The man on the other end was your father, Rick."

It took a moment for him to grasp this, but she could see when he did. He looked up, a new emotion on his face. This time, it was complete confusion.

"My father?"

"He didn't want me to tell you because he knew you would put all of your energy into trying to find him. I don't believe that. But I do know the last thing you would ever do is trust him. So I wasn't going to tell you." She paused to let it sink in, "but he's trying to help us, Rick. He's been watching, and he knows LokSat better than either of us do. He's promised to protect me, and I think he will be a valuable asset."

"You're his father." Rick said a moment later, "you said that to him. You meant my father?"

She sighed, suddenly realizing what had made him think what he did, "yeah. I meant your father. I couldn't say his name out loud or specify whose father he was in case someone had tapped into the conversation. Just saying 'his father' exposed too much."

Rick nodded and then glanced up. She was staring out the window, looking both relieved and uptight at the same time.

"Thank you for telling me." He said, "I'm not happy that my father is part of this, but if he's promised to keep you safe, I guess I can't argue with that."

"I'm sorry, Rick." She said finally.

"So am I."

With the silence that followed, he stood and left the living room. Behind her, Kate heard the bedroom door shut softly.

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 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I felt emotional just writing it. Again, sorry about last chapter's implied angst. Hopefully this chapter cleared some things up and made me seem a tad less cruel. I promise, I'm not the type of writer to break up my OTP! Love you guys...thanks for reading!**


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